Aging
How You Can Recognize Aging
- Wrinkles and age spots
- High blood pressure, and warnings or occurrence of heart attack or stroke
- Insomnia
- Decreased sexual desire or unsatisfying sexual performance
The Causes of Aging
Graceful aging is not all about the calendar. It depends on nutritional, environmental, and genetic factors, not just your chronological age. Eating a nutritious diet with generous servings of fresh, raw or minimally processed fruits and vegetables every ay, along with sensible alcohol intake and quitting smoking, help keep you active and enjoying life long after you reach the age of retirement.
Herbal Treatment for Some of the Common Complaints of Aging
- Fo-ti (ho shu wou) for graying hair. Generally provided in a Chinese herbal formula, taken as directed by the Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.
- Mixed carotenoids (along with vitamins C and E and alpha-lipoic) acid for wrinkles and skin spots, 25 mg per day.
- Ginkgo for age-related memory decline and sexual side effects of antidepressants, 70-80 mg 3 times a day.
- Gotu kola, kava-kava, passionflower, and valerian for insomnia, used as directed on the label.
- Hawthorn for high blood pressure and/or atherosclerosis.
- Red yeast rice as an alternative to statin drugs for high cholesterol, used as directed on the label.
Herbal Treatment of the Health Conditions of Aging
Use of healing herbs can provide you with a weapon against signs of aging, preserving youthful function in all the body's important systems.
One of the sure symptoms of aging is graying of the hair. Chinese medicine has prescribed teas of fo-ti in combination with other herbs to bring back the youthful color of the hair at least since the second century AD.
Modern science, however, explains the action of mixed carotenoids taken daily, especially in combination with antioxidants (such as alpha-lipoic acid, and vitamins C and E) in lightening age spots and preventing sun damage and wrinkling. These antioxidants relieve the skin of the need to produce dark, disfiguring spots of pigment to protect itself from the ravages of the sun.
Inflexible arteries lead to high blood pressure, and high blood pressure can lead to heart attack and stroke. Ginkgo helps red blood cells "turn corners" in narrow blood vessels. Hawthorn acts on a group of white blood cells known as the neutrophils to stop them from releasing inflammatory chemicals that tighten blood vessels and predispose them to clots. It also slows the heartbeat while making each individual heartbeat stronger and more effective. Red yeast rice contains a naturally occurring form of the anti-cholesterol drug lovastatin (Mevacor), and can lower cholesterol just as effectively as prescription drugs.
Herbal remedies can be just as effective against insomnia as prescription drugs, without the side effects. Gotu kola, one of the most important herbs in Ayurveda, reduces anxiety and encourages a longer dream state. Passionflower is a natural sedative, and kava-kava contains chemicals in the same class as the benzodiazepam sleep agents Librium and Valium but without their side effects or dangerous interactions with alcohol. Valerian has been used for centuries as a sleep tonic, although its smell leads most people to prefer capsules to teas.
No discussion of herbs and aging would be complete without mention of the herbs for sexual health. The African herb yohimbe and the South American herb catuaba both contain yohimbine, an FDA-approved remedy for erectile dysfunction. Chrysin encourages sexual desire in men, while DHEA used with arginine, damiana, ginkgo, and/or ginseng reawakens sexual desire in women.
The information on this website is solely for informational and educational purposes only. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. If you feel that you have a health problem, you should seek the advice of your physician or health care provider.
|